Health and Family Services CabinetKentucky Department for Public Health Official Will Present at Ecuadorian Civil Defense Conference

Press Release Date:

Friday, June 02, 2006

Contact Information:

Barbara Fox or Beth Crace(502) 564-6786

Kentucky Department for Public Health Official Will Present at Ecuadorian Civil Defense Conference

Expert to discuss emergency management of radioactive materials

FRANKFORT, KY (June 2, 2006) – An official from the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) will conduct a presentation on emergency management of radioactive materials at an upcoming civil defense conference in Ecuador.

Matthew McKinley, DPH's radioactive materials program supervisor, will speak about the emergency management of radioactive materials during the conference scheduled for June 5-9.

“We are pleased to be included as part of this collaborative effort that extends across national borders,” said William D. Hacker, M.D., commissioner for public health and acting undersecretary for health at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. “The U.S. is one of the leading countries in the world for handling radioactive materials and we are honored to have the privilege of providing a representative from Kentucky to speak at this noteworthy conference.”

In addition to McKinley’s presentation, conference briefings will cover civil defense measures and disaster response mechanisms. Representatives from Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela will also attend the conference.

The Kentucky Air National Guard has a relationship with the Ecuadoran National Defense Forces and routinely flies courier flights into South America with the C-130 cargo plane. Additionally, Kentucky Air Guardsmen have assisted Ecuador with the establishment of a C-130 aircraft maintenance program, an important safety measure.

For more information about programs in DPH's Radiation Health Branch, visit